BUFFALO, N.Y. -- One local developer is putting his money where his mouth is by teaming up with some community groups to put residents to work.
At the corner of Seneca St. and Hamburg St., construction workers are putting the finishing touches on the highly anticipated 500 Seneca Building. When the project kicked off, developer Sam Savarino decided he wanted do something different.
"We have a lot of projects in undeserved areas of the community so we see it more than other people do, and people say that all these projects are going on and nobody in the neighborhood seems to benefiting or linked in to them or be a part of them at all," said Savarino.
That's why Savarino decided to partner with PUSH Buffalo, Open Buffalo and the Outsource Center to help put people in the community to work.
"The folks at PUSH and Spence Gaskins' Outsource Center have taken a lot of time and trouble to locate people, train them, give them the skills that they need and the support that they need to link up with people," said Savarino.
With the help of PUSH and the Outsource Center, Savarino was able to hire about 30 people from the community to work on this project. One of those workers is Reggie Alls.
"Me being at the right place at the right time and able to show my work ethic and show that I'm ready to work. I'm reliable, dependable, and ready to work," said Alls.
"This is life-changing. For them to come from being either formerly incarcerated or long-term unemployed to being able to be given $15 an hour, be given a health care package, to be given a bus pass, to have a group that will support them they can call PUSH and say, 'Hey, I need a ride somewhere. I'm dealing with this issue.' We advocate for them as tenants. Just people treating you as a human being can really change your outlook," said John Washington, PUSH Buffalo.
And in turn help lay the foundation for a stronger, more productive community.